Ask the pundits and you'll hear plenty of reasons why paid podcasting will never really take off in America. Most often cited is "the djinni is out of the bottle".

But they forget that other media (see: TV, radio) have plenty of success stories in doing just that, and now both have rich ecosystems where paid and free content exist in essentially the same form.

Recent moves such as Slate's Supporting Cast platform, Substack's new audio-centric paid newsletter offering, and Himalaya's $100M investment round are just the more recent moves that could signal changing attitudes around the concept of paid podcasting.

Will they be enough to get anywhere near the $7.3B that Chineses podcasters earn mostly through paid subscriptions? Maybe. If we're ready to commit to podcasts worth paying for. 

That's what we'll discuss on this episode.

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